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July 1, 2021
FDA Releases Cyclospora Prevention, Response and Research Action Plan
Dear International Colleague,
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a Cyclospora Prevention, Response and Research Action Plan that outlines FDA’s strategy for reducing the public health burden of foodborne cyclosporiasis in the United States caused by Cyclospora cayetanensis (C. cayetanensis) in both domestically grown and imported produce.
Cyclosporiasis is a foodborne intestinal illness caused by the parasite C. cayetanensis. The number of reported cases of cyclosporiasis in the US has been rising in recent years, likely due in part to better diagnostic testing methods. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there have been roughly 6,000 reported domestically-acquired cases of cyclosporiasis over the last 3 years. The number of reported cases typically rises during the spring and summer, from May through August.
Historically cyclosporiasis was associated with travel to or consumption of produce from countries where C. cayetanensis was endemic. In response to outbreaks of cyclosporiasis, FDA has taken samples of imported produce, inspected foreign farms and created import alerts in response to adverse findings. However, over the last several years Cyclospora has been increasingly confirmed in surface water and on food grown in the US. This may be partially attributed to improvements in testing and surveillance tools that are able detect this parasite better than in the past.
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